April 7 Letters to the Editor

April 7, 2009 9:50 pm

‘Dad-deprived’ kids

Just the other day, I saw a news broadcast on the homosexual marriage amendment that passed in California. When the camera panned the crowd of protesters, I saw a little boy holding hands with two women. I assumed that they were his two mothers.

According to the 2000 census, about one-fourth of all same-sex-couple households include children. I am against same-sex marriage because the needs of children for a mom and a dad should come before adults’ desire for recognition.

By those two women deciding to be a lesbian couple and raising that boy together, that young boy will never experience the leadership and comfort that a father brings to a son. The same experience applies for a little girl being raised by two men and her not being able to experience the love and warmth a mother brings to a daughter.

God created man with the ability to procreate. This process of new life can only come from the union of a man and a woman. God’s design is perfect, and any other combination of humans goes against nature.

Not only does homosexuality deprive an innocent child of experiencing a mom and dad, this lifestyle can also lead to devastating results.

Statistics show that domestic abuse is 20 times more common among homosexuals than heterosexuals, and one-third of child molestation cases are homosexual, even though homosexuals make up only 3 percent of the population. That is the reality.

Aaron Eastman

Exeter

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WABI should fire GM

I nearly dropped my coffee cup when I saw the BDN headline, “WABI announces cuts.” We are certainly all aware that it is a rare day when we don’t read about this company filing for bankruptcy, that mill closing for a month or another store simply fading away before our eyes; therefore, the headline is not what startled me.

What absolutely shocked me was that Craig Colson, a 25-year veteran newsman, was among the ones cut. Here’s my problem with this particular decision: Craig Colson is Channel 5 News, as his father was before him. No General Manager in effect cuts the public’s first link to that station. I’m surprised he didn’t cut Tim Throckmorton also, then there would be no public recognition for that newsroom.

I’m told that WABI has a 55 percent share of the viewing public, which even with my limited math skills seems to be pretty significant in a town with three television stations bringing the news. If cuts truly should be made, why not start with the General Manager Mike Young, who thought it would be in Channel 5’s best interest to make this absurd decision?

Rosemary Canney

Old Town

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Damon’s bill a risk

Rep. Dennis Damon’s recently proposed legislation which would allow same-sex marriage in Maine concerns me, a lifelong Maine resident. I believe such legislation is not only unnecessary given our state’s current domestic partnership laws, but also dangerous because of the opportunity it presents for much more drastic and detrimental changes to the definition of marriage.

The propelling argument for proponents of same-sex marriage is their contention that they are denied the rights granted to heterosexual married couples. However, virtually all of these rights are conferred to same-sex couples in Maine’s domestic partnership laws. That aside, changing the definition of marriage will most certainly result in efforts to allow for polygamy and variations other than one-man, one-woman unions.

The ACLU of Utah is already advocating that opponents to change in marriage laws should “have to step up to prove that a polygamous relationship is detrimental to society.” Many are already citing Lawrence v. Texas and Romer v. Evans to argue for polygamy and their very same reasoning can be applied to any other type of desired union, whether it be between a man and two women, a man and an animal or an adult and a child.

It is not difficult to see the potential issues that Damon’s legislation is sure to produce, and considering how unnecessary it is for equal rights, we cannot afford to ignore the risk this poses to our state.

Beulah Bragdon

Bangor

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Absurd argument

In his April l letter to the editor, Lawrence Merrill makes the same absurd arguments against gay marriage that I have heard too many times.

He thinks that denying gays marriage is not discrimination because civil unions are good enough. This is basically the same argument that was used against allowing blacks to drink out of the same fountains as whites. If we give them their own fountains, why do they need to use ours?

Even more ridiculous is Mr. Merrill’s assessment at “logic requires” that we allow gays to marry, we will also have to allow people to marry children, and cats and dogs. This is not only completely illogical but shows a shallowness of thought process. By this reasoning, we also shouldn’t allow gays to have driver’s licenses. After all, if we allow gays to drive, don’t we also have to let children and animals? There are very logical and reasonable reasons not to allow marriage to children and animals. So how about we draw the line at consenting adult human beings?

I believe that many on the right oppose gay marriage not for any logical reason, but because they just don’t feel right about it. I find this ironic, considering that they constantly accuse liberals of basing their judgments on feelings and emotions instead of reason and common sense. It seems to me that it is just the other way around.

Jon Hutchins

Lamoine

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Compare costs in Btu

Thank you for publishing “HeatCosts.” I am sure many of your readers find the comparison of the cost of heating fuels such as oil, kerosene, firewood, wood pellets, natural gas and propane interesting, but also find that it comes up short in providing a true expression of the “cost” of each of the fuels.

Merely stating the price of a gallon of No. 2 oil or a ton of wood pellets does not provide consumers, who may be evaluating their heating options and fuel choices for heating their homes, the information necessary to compare the true cost of the various fuel choices.

Perhaps the BDN could include the comparison of heating capacity of each fuel expressed by the price per 100,000 British thermal units, or Btu.

This would permit the consumer to compare fuel prices, using a standard unit of measure and would help those who are evaluating their options on how best to heat their home.

Comparing costs has always been difficult because the Btu content of the fuel varies depending on its unit of measurement. The BDN could help eliminate that confusion by comparing the different fuels on an equal basis of the fuel price per 100,000 Btu.